|
|
Cicada Killer with Cicada
(12/29/2007) wasp?
We saw this with a nest in the ground and eating this other
insect. This was taken at a nearby park in Shelby Twp., Michigan.
Can you tell me what it is? Thanks,
Kelley
Hi Kelley,
This is a Cicada Killer wasp and a paralyzed Cicada. Most
of our letters with images of Cicada Killers arrive in July
and August, and we are guessing that this photo was not taken
recently in Michigan, but probably during the summer. Cicada
Killer wasps feed on pollen and nectar, but larval wasps feed
on Cicadas. This female Cicada Killer has paralyzed a Cicada
with her sting and is dragging it back to her burrow where
she will bury it and lay an egg. The developing wasp larva
will then feed on the paralyzed Cicada. Being that the Cicada
is paralyzed and still alive, it does not harden and dry out
so the larval wasp has living fresh meat.
Orange Drummer Cicadas from Australia
(11/26/2007) Orange Drummer cicadas
Bugman:
No question this time, but thought you might be interested
to see pics of a rare type of Thopa cicada - the Orange Drummer,
or Thopa colorata. It inhabits a very small section of Central
Australia.
http://www.flickr.com/photos
/travelcat/2067077737/in/photostream/
We've dozens of these around the house just now, good thing
neither of us have a bug phobia! We've had a dozen or
so hatch just this morning! If you want to link to these pics,
feel free!
Jodi
 
Hi Jodi,
Thank you so much for sending us your gorgeous Orange Drummer
Cicada photos. We love getting so many wonderful submissions
from Australia during your summer.
Green Grocer Cicada from Australia: Loudest Insect
in the World!!!
(11/17/2007) What`s this?
Hello Bugman,
we live in Melbourne, Australia and found this green giant
somewhat in our garden. It flew away making a tremendous noise
(like a helicopter taking off) ;-) . Can You tell us what
that is? Regards,
Dr. Christian Karcher M.D.
VIC Australia
Hi Christian,
This is a Green Grocer Cicada, Cyclochila australasiae. According
to the Scribbly
Gum Website, the Green Grocer Cicada is the loudest insect
in the world.
Cicada Exoskeleton
(09/29/2007) what is this?
the bug is attached in a picture
JR
Hi JR,
We get numerous requests to identify the exoskeletons of Cicadas,
but rarely are the images as fine as yours. Immature Cicada
nymphs live underground where they suck sap from the roots
of trees and shrubs. When they approach maturity, they dig
to the surface (hence the clawlike front feet) and molt into
winged adults, leaving the exoskeleton behind.
Cicada: Tibicen pronotalis
(09/24/2007) Cicada
We found this cicada in our backyard of Eastern OK.
It was yellow & orange with black. My husband thought
it was that commonly seen Grand Western Cicada but I am not
convinced. Any thoughts? Thank you.
Art & Cricket Wing
 
Hi Art and Cricket,
This sure looks to us like Tibicen
pronotalis, a Cicada with no common name.
Cicada from Borneo: Tacua speciosa
(08/20/2007) Best Cicada
The best cicada I found this summer. Kinabalu Park,
Sabah. East Malaysia.
Chris
Hi again Chris,
We believe your cicada is Tacua
speciosa.
Periodical and Annual Cicada together
(06/19/2007) two cicada species together
I'm looking forward to the end of Brood
XIII in the western suburbs of Chicago, as I'm getting
pretty tired of them, then I saw this. Can you identify
the green one for me? I love your website.
Carol Toman
Hi Carol,
Your Periodical Cicada on the left is being accompanied by
one of the green Annual Cicadas in the genus Tibicen. They
are often called Dogday Harvestflies since they normally appear
in late summer, but this specimen arrived a bit early. A true
expert would be needed to give you an exact species.
Cicada
Killer with Prey
(06/19/2007) Cicada Killer with prey
I found this site trying to figure out what this was. I believe
it is a Cicada Killer with its prey.
Neal
Hi Neal,
Thanks for sending us your dramatic example of the insect
Food Chain. The Cicada Killer is a much maligned insect. We
get numerous reports that they are aggressive insects, though
reports of stinging are few and far between. The female Cicada
Killer digs a burrow that she provisions with Cicadas she
has paralyzed with her sting. The Cicadas provide food for
the larvae. She lays an egg on each Cicada and positions it
in its own underground chamber. These are solitary wasps,
though there is occasionally a nesting colony.
Brood
XIII Periodical Cicadas Mating, Emerging and Laying Eggs
(06/15/2007) Cicada Photos
Dear Sir,
Feel free to post any of these images taken in Lyons,IL May-June
2007. Mating Cicadas Emerging adult Female beginning to deposit
eggs Female ready to deposit eggs Thank you,your site is awesome!
Joe Balynas
Lyons,IL U.S.A.
Hi Joe,
Our site would be nothing without awesome photo documentation
like yours.
 
Brood
XIII: Emergence of a Periodical Cicada
(06/08/2007) Chicago Periodical Cicadas 4 U!
Hi guys!
I've finally got some good cicada pix for you. I will send
them in a separate email so you will for sure get this message.
Sometime mail with attachments don't go through. Please respond
if you do get this so I know that you know pix are on their
way. I usually do this every time I send a photo with an
email just so I know cuz I'm OC that way. The meds really
help, let me tell you.
Most sincerely,
Joanne M. Pleskovich
ps - they are copyrighted ONLY because photos tend to get
nicked off the web. Please know I am giving you permission
to use them for what ever you want as long as my name stays
with them. You can keep this email as proof in case
of future litigation. Ha ha! me so funny!
 
Hi Joanne,
Thanks for sending your wonderful Periodical Cicada emergence
images. It took a bit of time to reformat all your images
to conform to our site and still maintain your copyright information,
though there has been a bit of cropping. Thanks again for
the amazing documentation.
 
Brood
XIII: Periodical Cicadas from Lisa's Mom near Chicago
(06/08/2007) Cicadas
Here are some pictures. I'll send a few more in another email.
The sound is wonderful. Like trillions of tiny tambourines
or fairy bells. Not too loud here. I sent a few pix with the
biggest groups I found. Mostly they are not like that at all.
And I rarely see them on any tree trunks. Only on the plants
on the ground or lower leaves of the trees. I think they start
there and then fly up to the treetops.
Mom
Hi Sue,
We have been waiting for our readership to send in Periodical
Cicada images, but to our dismay, only one has arrived. Thankfully,
we now have your awesome images of this unforgetable phenomenon.
For more information on the Periodical Cicadas, visit Sue's
new website.
Newly Metamorphosed Cicada
(06/02/2007) Unknown Bug
Evening,
We live on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada.
A few weeks ago we were camping along side a local river not
to far out of town. Around 7:30 that evening I noticed this
insect attached to a line on the tent. The insect had attached
itself to the back of a wasp and was in the process of sucking
the insides of the wasp out. The wasp was minus its wings.
In the morning the hungry insect had departed and left the
empty carcass of the wasp still attached to the tent line.
Nothing left but a hollowed out shell. I unfortunately did
not get a shot of what was left but I did get the one attached
to this email. Any help in the identity of this bug would
be greatly appreciated. Many thanks,
Chris Deakin
Victoria, BC, Canada
Hi Chris,
While your story is interesting, your observation of the occurance
is not quite accurate. The pictured insect is a newly metamorphosed
Cicada, and what you have mistaken for a meal is not a wasp
but the shed skin of the larval Cicada. The photo is quite
gorgeous.
17 Year Locusts: Periodical Cicadas have arrived!!!
(05/20/2007) Very first periodical cicadas
Hi,
To go along with the nymph photos I sent you earlier, here
are a few of the very first periodical cicadas of the year
here in NE Illinois. They weren't able to fly yet, but it
was fun watching them waddle around. I took the opportunity
to snap some pictures. There were three, and one of them was
markedly smaller than the other two. Is this an indication
of gender? Thanks, and keep up the good work!
Christina
Hi Christina,
Thank you for sending us your documentation of this momentous
moment. 17 years ago, these Periodical Cicadas hatched from
eggs, making them the insect with the longest life span. In
insects where there is a marked size difference between sexes,
it is usually the female that is larger. We don't know if
this is the case with Periodical Cicadas. For more information
on the Periodical Cicadas, visit Sue's
new website.
Teneral Cicada
(04/13/2007) bug
Hi Bugman,
Please help us identify this bug. We are students from 5c
and 5g at George W. Truett Elementary in Dallas, Tx. Also
do you like all bugs, or just some? Thanks
Hi Elementary School Students,
This is a Cicada in the genus Tibicen. Since it is in its
teneral stage, immediately following a molt, the insect is
pale and soft and has not attained its true adult coloration.
This make exact identification much more difficult. Though
we can appreciate the complexity of life on this planet and
understand that all insects have a purpose, our level of tolerance
drops sharply with invasive exotics that have no natural enemies
and threaten other species to extinction. Additionally we
have no mercy with aphids on our tomato plants. That said,
we don't exactly "love" all insects.
Cicada from Costa Rica
(03/13/2007) I know this is just a common annoying cicada,
but I'm sending you the photo because I think this one is
pretty. It has the iredescent green on it's wings and metalic
gold body. It would make a nice brooch for an entomologist
to wear.
Jordan
Costa Rica
Hi Jordan,
Thanks for sending us your photo of a Costa Rican Cicada.
Cicada from New Zealand
(02/26/2007) NZ Cicada
Hello.
I've been viewing several cicada sites and read about periodical
and annual cicadas. I would like more information about the
annual cicadas. Can you direct me to a website? At the moment,
we are surrounded by the glorious singing of oodles of cicadas.
Are you able to provide any detail about the one in the attached
photo? This one allowed me to get really up close and personal
without taking flight. Regards,
Margaret
Nelson, NZ.
Hi Margaret,
We love Lindsay
Popple's awesome Cicada website, but it is dedicated to
Australian species. We will check with Lindsay and see if
he knows what species this is. Lindsay quickly wrote back:
"Hi Daniel, The cicada species from New Zealand is Amphipsalta
zelandica. See http://hydrodictyon.eeb.uconn.edu/projects/cicada/sp_pages/NZ_species/A_zealandica.html
Cheers, Lindsay."
Grass Fairie Cicada from Australia, not Bunyip Cicada
(02/17/2007) Bug
Hi, Love your site. Most Aussies of my generation are familiar
with Cicadas. We enjoy their singing all Summer, it reminds
us of our childhoods!! I was really intrigued recently on
a visit to a friends farm. We live in South East Queensland
Australia about 72 miles west of Brisbane. We are in the middle
of a severe & prolonged drought.However, recently there
has been some welcome rain, about 4.5". This week at
the farm there were huge swarms (millions) of the attached
"Bug". They look like Cicadas, however, it seems
unusal behaviour for them. They are very small, no more than
1" in length. I've only ever known Cicadas to shed &
go into the trees for the duration, I have never seen them
swarm en masse & never so small. We wondered if the weather
has produced an unusal phenomenon or are they some other insect?
I've tried to identify them without success. I've attached
a pic for you.
Thanks & regards.Regards,
Julie
Hi Julie,
This is most certainly a Cicada. We did some research, and
based on the protruding eyes and melanistic spots towards
the apex of the forewings, we believe this to be a Bunyip
Cicada in the genus Tamasa. We used Lindsay
Popple's awesome Cicada website for the identification,
and he addresses the aggregation behavior thus: "Aggregation
is a phenomenon observed mostly in the larger and medium sized
cicada genera such as Thopha ,Psaltoda ,Macrotristria ,Tamasa
and many others. Many of these species produce loud continuous
choruses for long periods. The aggregating behaviour is most
likely directly related to mate signalling opportunities.
If a male cicada recognises the frequency components of another
male singing he will fly in near to where the sound is coming
from. He will then commence singing in order to signal to
females that have already flown in, in response to the original
males song. The process continues until the entire brood
is restricted to a small group of trees. A possible, though
indirect, by-product of this is that the sheer number of males
singing in an area may confuse predators. " We have written
to Lindsay to see if he can substantiate our identification.
Here is Lindsay's quick reply and correction: "Hi there Daniel,
You were close with the identification. It is a sister genus
to Tamasa, a grass cicada called the 'Grass Fairie' or 'Yellow
Sugarcane Cicada' Parnkalla muelleri. See: http://152.98.200.7/ins-info/Par.htm
Cheers, Lindsay."
Thank you. This is very interesting! We appreciate your efforts.
I have attached a list of "flora" recently documented (by
LandCare Australia spotters) on the property. This might be
of interest in understanding the Cicadas habitat? The swarming
(aggregation)seemed very random? but probably not! just the
sheer numbers made it seem so. We had them in ears, noses
etc. Our farmer friend was certainly "complaining" of incessant
noise levels.I will have a look at the w/site mentioned. I
was unaware that we had such a small species of Cicada? All
of the ones mentioned on your w/site are familiar to us. Regards
Julie
Green
Grocer Cicada
(12/11/2006) What's this bug
Dear Bug Man
My name is Nicholas and my sister's name is Emma. We were
wondering what sort of bug this is? Regards,
Nicholas and Emma
Hi Nicholas and Emma,
We are nearly certain this is an Australian Green Grocer Cicada,
Cyclochila virens. |
|
